So, what does the University of Washington, milk jugs, recreational boating and 3D Printing have in common? Not much… until now! The new ‘Washington Open Object Fabricator’ Group (WOOF), UW Engineering students and the Open 3D Printing Lab managed to manufacture a boat from shredded HDPE milk jugs and a hacked Plasma Cutter named ‘Big Red’. The aim? To manufacture an boat and compete in the 42nd Annual Milk Carton Derby. Here’s the story.
Everyone loves a snazzy lookin’ car handle on a snazzy lookin’ car, right? Me, I prefer to command my car (or trained monkey) to open the door so I don’t have to put down my pipe and whiskey (it’s just apple juice, officer.) If you do, however, prefer to pull, push or yank on a door-opening device and have a deep, yearning desire to design one on the car of the future, the The Edison2 Challenge is just for you.
Okay, I admit. It’s more like a ‘Pen-on’ experience, but you get the idea. Why point and click on a model with a mouse on an ol’ 2D screen when you can pull them right off the screen in 3D – near holographic-like, virtual 3D. The zSpace platform by Infinite Z promises to “transform today’s computing environment” with their approach to 3D displays. Put on a pair of nifty polarized glasses, grab your clicker pen and you’re ready for an interactive, in-your-face 3D experience.
Deep with in the dark crevasses of time, there were other, smaller crevasses and deep within those, there lived a people. A people so furry, they were known only by one name. A name we do not know. Anyway, they lived rich and bountifully off the land, all thanks to the SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff. Have something cool you’ve come across? Don’t hide it in your neck skin! Send it on in to smoth@www.solidsmack.com. Kick it!
Believe me, I was so tempted to headline this story with “Geomagic and Creaform Ass-Scan Gets Australian Kayak Team Fitted” Damage done, but to be honest, the scan is of much more than the posterior. The process of how Ami Drory, biomechanist at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), is forming the kayak cockpit, seat and thigh brace to the athletes is a very unique, never-been-done-before procedure (and a gold-winning combination between the two companies) that’s melding the competitor to their craft.